Abstract
IN the Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London, Session 1934-35, Part 2, Mr. N. B. Kinnear and Mr. F. C. Fraser direct attention to the remarkable journals and zoological notes from the voyage of Peter Mundy, 1855-56. Some very clever sketches are reproduced showing a remarkable vivacity, and his notes show that he was a careful observer. Three volumes of his travels have already been published by the Hakluyt Society; the fourth and final volume is being edited by Miss Anstey, who assisted the late Sir Richard Temple with the earlier volumes. The running bird from Ascension Island illustrated which “can neither fly nor swimme” is identified as a rail, now extinct, and the strange seal-like creature from St. Helena is thought to be a sea elephant, which, although never recorded from so far north, is a very strong swimmer, and it is apparently just possible that one could have reached this island. The third picture represents a whale, identified by Mr. Fraser as an adult Atlantic right whale. Mundy's description of the feeding mechanism is stated to be quite correct, and he is probably one of the first to have given a true account of this.
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The Voyage of Peter Mundy. Nature 136, 470 (1935). https://doi.org/10.1038/136470c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/136470c0